Music: Man Plus Remix Album FOR FREE!!!

The fine folks over at Man Plus headquarters have contacted me, and they have asked that I share their remix EP with the fine readers at Where the Silence Is.

It's a zip fileof the remix version of five songs from the album The Hungarian Suicide Songbook. Did I mention that it's free?!?!

Seriously, download this, and then go see Man Plus at one of their upcoming Seattle dates:

9/12 - Britney Spears Cover night @ Mars Bar
9/13 - KEXP Midday Dance Party @ Nectar
10/4 - Reverb in Ballard
10/31 - Halloween Show(!) at the Comet

Music: Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On

Last night at the Showbox in Seattle I was in attendance to see Built to Spill perform their 1997 classic album Perfect From Now On.

The crowd was already riled up in a frenzy and screaming before the first notes hit. Throughout the venue I had overheard people talking about how many times they had listened to the album that day or week(For the record I had listened to it 3 or 4 times this week).

Right before the band began their first song lead singer Doug Martsch said, "This is for Phil Ek." Phil Ek was the, at the time Seattle based, producer of the album.

The hot crowd was so lively that I could actually feel the floor beneath my feet bow as people jumped, danced, and tapped their feet.

As the band neared the end of album closer Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else) they transitioned smoothly right into Goin' Against Your Mind from 2006's You In Reverse.

Built to Spill left the stage to a rousing ovation, and they returned a few moments later to play a two song encore of Big Dipper and a song that once made me absolutely lose it- You Were Right from Keep It Like a Secret.

Built to Spill continues to put on one of the best live performances that you will ever see. Check them out on their current world tour if you can:

9/6/08 McDonald Theatre Eugene, OR

9/8/08 Slim's San Francisco, CA

9/9/08 Slim's San Francisco, CA

9/10/08 Troubadour West Hollywood, CA

9/11/08 Troubadour West Hollywood, CA

9/12/08 Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown, CA

9/16/08 Chameleon Club Lancaster, PA

9/17/08 Toad's Place New Haven, CT

9/18/08 Calvin Theater Northampton, MA

9/19/08 All Tomorrow's Parties Festival Monticello, NY

9/20/08 The Trocadero Philadelphia, PA

9/21/08 The Trocadero Philadelphia, PA

9/22/08 The National Richmond, VA

9/23/08 9:30 Club Washington, DC

9/24/08 Ram's Head Live Baltimore, MD

9/25/08 Terminal 5 New York, NY

9/26/08 Terminal 5 New York, NY

9/27/08 Orpheum Theatre Boston, MA

10/1/08 Doornroosje Nijmegen

10/2/08 Melkweg Amsterdam

10/3/08 Tivoli Utrecht

10/4/08 Take rot Groningen

10/5/08 AB Box Brussels

10/6/08 VoxHall Aarhus

10/7/08 Loppen Copenhagen

10/9/08 Folken Stavanger

10/10/08 USF Bergen

10/11/08 Rockefeller Oslo

10/12/08 Sticky Fingers Goteborg

10/13/08 Debaser Medis Stockholm

10/14/08 KB Malmo

10/15/08 Forum Bielefeld

10/16/08 Bhf Langendeer Bochum

10/17/08 Universum Stuttgart

10/18/08 Karlstorbahnhof Heidelberg

10/19/08 K4 Nurnberg

10/21/08 Flex Wien

10/22/08 Weekender Innsbruck

10/23/08 Palace St. Gallan

10/24/08 Locomotive Bologna

10/25/08 In IT Rome

10/26/08 Interzone Verona

10/28/08 La Cooperative Clermont Ferrand

10/29/08 Apolo Barcelona

10/30/08 Caracol Madrid

10/31/08 Azkena Bilbao

11/1/08 La Nef Angouleme

11/3/08 Maroquinerie Paris

11/4/08 Koko London

11/5/08 Thekla Bristol

11/6/08 Zodiac Oxford

11/7/08 Brudenell Social club Leeds

11/8/08 King Tuts Glasgow

11/9/08 Limelight Belfast

11/10/08 Academy Dublin

Music: Bumbershoot Music Festival Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of Seattle's 3 day Labor Day festival: Bumbershoot. Due to my work schedule I was only there in the latter part of the day yesterday(I will be there for a similar amount of time today, but I plan on attending the entire last day tomorrow.).

When I walked in the gates at Seattle center yesterday afternoon/early evening all of the mainstage passes were gone/accounted for. You see, despite having a festival pass you need an additional(free) pass to get into the mainstage to see the last two performances each night on that stage. Day 1 headliner was Beck, and I was already planning on seeing M.Ward instead of Beck anyway, but I was very disappointed to learn that I would not be able to see Band of Horses(denied!).

Upon walking in to the fest I approached the info booth and asked for a schedule/festival map. "We're all out," I was told. "You're kidding right? This is the first of three days isn't it?" I retorted. They were not amused.

I was close enough to an energy drink sponsored stage to hear the announcement that The Walkmen were next! So I made my way over to catch a few songs. I walked by the table of said energy drink company as their volunteers were emptying cans into paper cups and there were literally hundreds of cups on the table and probably a thousand in the trash cans around the table. "Hey can I have as much as I want?" I inquired. "Absolutely!" responded the excited and caffeine fueled rep. "So why are you wasting so many paper cups if this is a carbon neutral event?" She was not amused.

At this point I tried to make it to the theater where they are having plays during the festival. I really wanted to see Reefer Madness: The Musical! Not having a map made this trek seemingly impossible. For one, I didn't really know where I was going. Suddenly I was at the food lines, and there was no pathway around the lines. I had cut through line after line of hungry concert goers. This was quite possibly the worst layout of any festival that I have ever attended.

I was lost and disoriented. I found another info booth. I asked for a map/schedule. "We are all out, but you can look at the schedule that we have here." "I don't need the schedule, I need the map so I know where things are, and so I don't get lost trying to find Reefer Madness: The Musical!, do you know where that is playing?" The person at the info booth stared at me blankly, and then she suggested that I wander around until I find a map/schedule on the ground that someone had discarded. I am not making this up, that's what she told me.

I was becoming increasingly frustrated, and the other info booth volunteer(a hot punk rawker) could tell, and she took pity on me and told me where I might be able to get another one. Then she pointed and told me how to get to that building. Finally, I was able to acquire a map!

I got to where Reefer Madness: The Musical! was playing, and I was 15 minutes late and they would not let me in. At this point, I seriously needed a drink.

I ran into Dan, and he had a photographer's press pass. I went into a building with him that I should not have had access to, but they saw Dan's pass and just assumed I had one too I guess. I was able to get free coffee, an apple, and I was able to use a bathroom instead of one of the too few for the amount of people in attendance porta-potties. Did I mention that this was a really poorly laid out and organized event?

I think this is when I made my way over to see Saul Williams. He came out in full Niggy Tardust regalia with his face painted, feathers in his hair, and a brightly colored outfit. I have certainly seen better Saul Williams performances, but this one was definitely a high energy affair which the crowd was really eating up. The sound was not the greatest, and I couldn't hear his politically charged vocals for the first part of set. My friend Jessica said that there were sound issues all day.

Saul Williams waited until before his last song before he talked to the crowd about change, revolution, and how exciting of a time it is that we are living in today. I was really hoping for this to lead to "Om Nia Merican" from 2001's Amethyst Rockstar, but instead the set closer, and highlight, was the song, List of Demands (reparations) from his self titled release.

M. Ward was my day 1 headliner, and the one performance that I was most looking forward to this weekend. He did not disappoint. He opened with One More Goodbye and I was immediately giddy. After the first song he thanked everyone for being there and said, "I guess you've all heard Devil's Haircut on the radio enough times," which elicited laughter from the, mostly under-aged, crowd.
Fans swayed together, some danced, some shoe gazed, but overall the crowd was filled with a childlike wonder and we all held on to every lyric. When the band left the stage the crowd refused to yield. "I've never seen an encore on the side stage," said Jessica who was standing beside me. Well there's a first time for everything and the band came back out to play Big Boat from the album Transistor Radio. M. Ward thanked us again for choosing to be in front of this particular stage and he added, "I'm here for all of you!"

Despite the rather horrendous start to my first Bumbershoot, it couldn't have ended in a better way. Well, aside from Jessica and I walking a mile or so before we got a cab- but that's a story for another blog I'm sure.

Today I am most excited to see The Weakerthans! And right now I'm still not sure if I am seeing Tapes 'n Tapes, Final Fantasy, or Thee Emergency in the evening spot. I can guarantee that I will not be seeing Stone Temple Pilots, but I do hope that I can get a mainstage pass so that I can see The Black Keys tonight. I do love them so, and I have never seen them live.

Music: Hey Marseilles Takes Over the World

If you were in Seattle last night and you missed the Hey Marseilles CD release party at Neumos, well it sucks to be you!

I have referred to Hey Marseilles as my favorite local band for most of this year. My friend Jimmer offered me a free ticket to see them at the High Dive back in January or February. That night I downloaded their 4 song EP and put it on while I was getting ready for bed. I was halfway through the first song, "To Travels and Trunks" when I stopped what I was doing and sat down to give the songs my full intention.

The band is a 7 piece that includes several multi instrumentalists as well as multi part harmonies. They have strings, an accordion, a trumpet, and the bass gets passed amongst a few of the band members depending on the song. All 7 are excellent musicians, and even the drummer steps out from behind the kit for some choice harmonies during the set.

The video above is how they opened last night's CD release party at Neumo's. They start off with the instrumental, "Marseilles" and transition smoothly into "To Travels and Trunks." The crowd erupted, and the energy continued to build all night long until they closed with, "Goodbye Versailles," which the crowd followed with mass applause and a very loud, "One more song," chant that unfortunately for everyone involved did not result in an encore. The band remained on stage breaking down their equipment, shaking hands, saying, "thank you," to fans, and signing copies of the newly released CD left and right.

Last night, August 21, 2008 is the night that Hey Marseilles broke through. Last night was the night that everything changed.

I have seen Hey Marseilles play at a couple different clubs around Seattle, in the foyer of the Vera Project(that's right, not even on the main stage), and at a house show at the Greenhouse. The show last night at Neumo's was at least 3 times larger than any other crowd I have seen for a Hey Marseilles show. There were people in home made t-shirts. Seemingly every group of people had brought at least one person a long who had never seen the band before. My friend Molly came along just for fun and she pointed to her smile and said, "Do you see this? I can't stop doing this!"

It was a super hot crowd who moved with the music, sang along loudly, and went crazy for the smooth transitions that occur when things like, the viola player puts down his instrument mid song to play the bass.

At one point Dan turned to Abby who I had just met and he said, "Look at Jon. He looks so happy!" I was Dan, I certainly was.

The band was obviously in awe of the crowd, and they fed off that energy in their live performance. Most of the between song banter was relegated to thanking us all for being there, thanking us for supporting the band, and oh yah by the way there are CDs for sale.

This was the second best live show that I have seen this year. I can only rank the Flaming Lips and their UFO show at Sasquatch ahead of last night's performance.

Hey Marseilles is about to become huge, and it's time that you took notice.

Their debut full length To Travels and Trunks is available via iTunes as well as the band's website.

They also have a myspace page. Though apparently they do not currently have any future dates scheduled.

Music: Man Plus Live at the High Dive with New Faces, Elba, and Paris Spleen

Last night's show at the High Dive in Seattle was cause for a long night. There were 4 bands on the bill with Man Plus headlining. I was under the impression that the headliners were going on sometime between 10 and 11, so I arrived at the High Dive around 9:30. Upon walking in I could tell that none of the bands had taken the stage.

The first band up was Paris Spleen. The person at the bar next to me offered to bet that, "One, if not all three band members will have their shirt off by the end of their set." It's a good thing that I didn't take it because the guitarist walked on to the stage sans shirt. They are a 3 piece who I was told have been touring on the same 4 song EP for over 3 years now. Those 4 songs were obviously the most polished of their set, and they played a very straight forward classic rock inspired sound. The talent is definitely there, and I look forward to new material for them.

Next up was Elba, who for the most part were a 3 piece, but for about a third of their set they had an additional musician on stage to either add a second guitar, or to free up the main guitarist to attack the keyboard. They should really consider being a 4 piece the entire time, as the addition of keys gives them a much larger and more dynamic sound. They were very good, and they gave away copies of their CD, "An Avalanche". I picked up a copy, and if it's worth mentioning I'll do a future write up on it as well.

Last night's show also served as the CD release party for local band New Faces debut release on Loveless Records. Again with the 3 piece band, these guys are all 17 years old, and they fucking rock. They have a real playful crunchy guitar sound that is reminiscent of bands like Tokyo Police Club. Their lyrics are beyond their (under)age, and they tackle topics of love and lust like vagabond musicians who are twice their age. I'm not sure if they sold out of their CDs, or if they just packed up and left before I made it over to the merch table, but I can tell you that New Faces are worth checking out and someday soon I hope to have a copy of their album.

At this point of the night I started to yawn and feel groggy. It was almost 1am before Man Plus finally hit the stage. During the first song lead singer Jared Mills jumped down into the crowd and herded the Man Plus faithful towards the stage like cattle to the slaughter. I guess he thought everyone was too far away for the performance.

The band played a 30 or 40 minute set of mostly new material. The sound was great, and singer Ellen Mills could be heard much easier on this night than at their Block Party gig. The band was tight and they obviously enjoy playing in front of people, but it was late and even the band members suffered from a lack of energy by the time their set was over. I can't blame them. It has to be really difficult to sit around to sit around for so many hours before trying to rock the house. The people danced and sang along to the songs that they knew, which unfortunately were few and far between. Block Party crowd pleaser, "Not For All the Cocaine In the World" was absent from the set list as were the majority of songs on their last LP The Hungarian Suicide Songbook. I think that the only songs off the album that they played last night were, "A Ghost Is A Ghost Is A Ghost Is A Ghost," "What I Like About Love," and the last night's show stealer(and excellent closing number), "My Kind of People."

Despite the late night, Man Plus continues to rock, and they are a band on the rise that you certainly need to check out.

My night ended with Man Plus member Ellen talking about Maria Taylor, Azure Ray, and She & Him. In other words, her musical taste is as great as her band's talent.

Music: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Last night at a sold out and ridiculously hot Neumo's I was fortunate enough to see Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band.

How hot was Neumo's? My friend Megan left about halfway through the show because she felt like she was going to pass out at any moment. During the encore I had sweat literally running down my face as I thought, "If this was anyone else, I would leave about now."

I have been inside some really sweltering hot music venues in my life, but last night was just ridiculous. Even more so when you factor in that last night's temperature in Seattle was below 70 degrees. Seriously people, have your security crack open an exit door every now and then!



Indie heartthrob Conor Oberst was in high spirits last night. He looked much less emaciated than he had on the last couple of Bright Eyes tours. I joked to my friends that he appears to have been eating since the last time I saw him.

The girls screaming, "I love you Conor!" were more quiet than at your typical Bright Eyes show, and, as per usual, Conor no sold those catcalls all night refusing to even look up when they occurred. He only responded to things yelled from the audience on two occasions. Once during the encore when someone yelled out if he could sign their album, "I can do that," he said. And throughout the next song, which he only lang backup on, he scouted the front of the stage thanking fans for being there and signing additional copies of albums.

His other interaction happened when someone screamed out, "Do you want a cigarette?" "I do," he said, "but you can't smoke in here. I'm playing by the rules tonight."

Jason Boesel(Rilo Kiley, The Elected, various Bright Eyes incarnations) was behind the drums last night, and aside from The Faint's Clark Baechle, is probably the most exciting live drummer working today. He sings backup, he rocks out, and unlike many drummers he has the charisma and stage presence to draw your attention to him.

The Conor Oberst album doesn't actually come out until next week, so I was not familiar with most of the songs. I have a few of the songs from last year's gigs at Minneapolis' 400 Club. Those two shows were the public debut of Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. There is a song from there called, "Breezy" which is not included on the album, but they used that as the encore closer last night. It's a quiet tune about wanting to feel at home, wanting to be home. You know, some of those reoccurring themes from a 28 year old musician who has spent most of the past 10 years on the road.

All in all the band played 16 songs and played for over an hour and a half(subtracting the encore break). Which is all pretty awesome considering that the album only contains 12 tracks.

You can preorder the Conor Oberst self titled release direct from MERGE here.

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band continue to tour the world through November. You should definitely check them out on one of these dates:

07-31 Bend, OR - Midtown Ballroom *
08-01 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
08-02 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
08-03 Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre *
08-05 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour *
08-08 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge !
08-09 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle !
08-10 Norfolk, VA - The NorVa !
08-11 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero !
08-12 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom !
08-17 Saratoga, NY - Saratoga Music Festival
08-22 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-23 Birmingham, England - Academy 2
08-24 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-26 Portsmouth, England - Wedgewood Rooms
08-27 London, England - Electric Ballroom
08-28 Manchester, England -Academy 2
08-29 Argyll, Scotland - Hydro Connect Music Festival
08-30 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Spring and Airbrake
08-31 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival
09-02 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
09-03 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
09-04 Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Den Atelier
09-05 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
09-07 Munich, Germany - Backstage Werk
09-08 Zagreb, Croatia - Studenski
09-09 Vienna, Austria - Arena
09-10 Prague, Czech Republic - Roxy
09-11 Cologne, Germany - Gloria
09-12 Dorset, England - End of the Road Festival
09-13 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
09-14 Mannheim, Germany - Alte Feuerwache
09-15 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club
09-20 Omaha, NE - Anchor Inn
09-21 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium %
09-22 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre %
09-23 Fayetteville, AR - George's Majestic Lounge %
09-24 Oxford, MS - The Lyric %
09-25 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom %
09-27 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
10-02 Melbourne, Australia - The Palace
10-03 Brisbane, Australia - Tivoli
10-04 Sydney, Australia - Enmore
10-05 Sydney, Australia - Great Escape
10-21 Los Angeles, CA - Music Box @ Fonda
10-22 Los Angeles, CA - Music Box @ Fonda
10-24 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
11-08 New York, NY - Terminal 5
11-09 New York, NY - Terminal 5

Music: Devotchka - "We're Leaving" live at the Capitol Hill Block Party

Music: Capitol Hill Block Party Day 2

The first band that I saw on day 2 was Seattle's own Man Plus! That's the uber-charismatic Jared pictured performing in the crowd.

Watching Man Plus perform is a high energy affair. By the end of the show it's difficult to remember things such as, "How many people are in that band?" The current answer is 6. It's hard to remember not because there are so many people on stage, but because one man dominates your attention for the entire performance. That one man is lead vocalist Jared Mills. He danced, he crooned, he screamed, he lost pints of sweat, and he even bled for the Man Plus faithful who had gathered to witness their performance at the Vera Project stage.

Man Plus live video
The highlight of the show can be seen in the above video link as Jared jumps down into the crowd to perform, "Not For All the Cocaine In the World" from the album The Hungarian Suicide Handbook.

You can catch Man Plus next on August 16th at the High Dive in Seattle. It's a show that you won't want to miss.

When I arrived at the Block Party on Saturday I walked in to see Kimya Dawson finishing up her set on the main stage. I stood there for a moment and wondered if this is one of the largest crowds that she has ever performed in front of. The one time that I saw the Moldy Peaches in 2002 they played to a crowd of about 400. Since I have moved to Seattle Kimya has played solo shows at the Dearborn on Woodland which is a tiny TINY space which can not hold much more than 50 people. And 50 would be absolutely packing that place. She also played a gig at a house venue, The Green House at the end of last year in a small basement place of similar capacity. It was a little mind boggling to see her in such intimate spaces to playing for a few thousand in the middle of Seattle.

I spent a lot of the early evening inside King Cobra drinking strongbow and eating sweet potato fries. I highly recommend the sweet potato fries.

At this point in the day I went around to check out all of the groups who were tabling. I made my way to theBabeland table. They had a ringtoss game where you had to get the rings to stay on strap-on dildos that were strapped to Star Wars character standees. I won a silver bullet vibrator, thanks babeland!

From there I walked by the Democrats table (the republicans were nowhere to be seen) and I glanced over at the buttons that they had laid out. "Oh my god!" I exclaimed, "What do I have to do to get that one!" "It's a dollar." "SOLD!" And I walked away giggling at my new "For those about to BARACK, we salute you!" button. "BARACK" is written in the ACDC font.

After the tables I met up with Jessica who manages Man Plus. I told her about the performance earlier. She was stuck behind the merch table and did not have much of a vantage point to actually see them play. Her and I almost randomly wandered back over towards the Vera Project stage. Neither one of us had bothered to check out the schedule to see what band was playing. We just decided to see what was going on over there. I am so glad that we did.

As we approached San Diego band Grand Ole Party was already playing to a good sized crowd. A song into being there Jessica and I were saying to each other, "Hey, they are really good," and she made the first Pretenders reference to the band.

Lead singer/drummer Kristin Gundred had us captivated with her amazing voice that she was really letting loose on this night. Two songs in we said, "They are really fucking good!" And three songs in Jessica and I retreated to the merch table to buy their album while I talked about how I am now in love with Gundred.

As we continued to watch the live show Jessica and I also perused the liner notes. While I was overly excited to learn that Blake Sennett(Rilo Kiley, The Elected) produced the album Jessica pointed out that Gundred has a wedding ring on in one of the photos. "So? People don't stay married forever!" I retorted.

I also sent a text message to several friends at the Block Party that they needed to stop what they were doing and head over to see this band. I asked Jessica if I could have her all access wristband. "Why, so you can go ruin a marriage?" "Absolutely!" She declined, and I was left with only an album to remember the experience.

After my new favorite band
finished up I was able to get about 4 people deep from the front of the mainstage to see Devotchka close out the entire weekend. DeVotchka continues to put on one of the best live shows that I have ever seen. Despite Nick Urata being without a bottle of wine the band was in top form. Watching Tom Hagerman play the violin live is a spiritual experience, and something that I will never get tired of seeing. Their set included covers of Frank Sinatra, Ted Thacker, and the Velvet Underground(Devotchka does one of the best covers of "Venus In Furs" around).

The biggest crowd pop of the night was when the opening synth of "How It Ends" hit. During the chorus Nick turned the mic around to face the audience and seemingly all of Seattle sang along.

Devotchka closed their set with, "Such a Lovely Thing" which is very fitting. The song's lyrics include:

you only love me when I’m leaving,
you only love me ‘cause I’m leaving,
you only love me when I’m leaving,
you only love me ‘cause I’m leaving tonight

The crowd wanted to see an encore so bad, but it was 12:00AM on the dot and the show was over. Devotchka played for almost a full hour and a half, and it was an amazing, and fitting, end to the weekend.

Music: Capitol Hill Block Party Day 1

Day 1:

In the beginning, there was Menomena...

This weekend was Seattle's annual Capitol Hill Block Party. It was a rockin' good time, and I sort of feel like I need to sleep for an entire day to recover from the weekend.

One of the best parts of this festival, above all others that I have ever been to, was the actual "block party" feel to it. Both days I was running into people that I knew left and right. I would split up with a friend who wanted to see a band at one stage while I headed to another stage to watch a different band, and it wouldn't be long before I was enjoying music with friends again.

The band that I was most excited to see on Day 1 was Menomena from Portland, OR. Unfortunately the main stage schedule was off for a bit of the afternoon, and it was when Menomena was on stage that the organizers decided to stick to the schedule. They started a while later than the listed set time, but they only played until the listed end time. I had never seen them before, and I left their set feeling slighted. It's obviously not the band's fault. They were really great for about 5 or 6 songs, and then they were over. I will definitely try to check them out the next time they come through town.

Menomena puts out really cool interactive album art work. Don't download their music, you will want to hold it in your hands. Trust me on this one.

Next came Girl Talk, who had a much larger following then I could have imagined. This is when the pushing, shoving, punching, and beer spilling was at it's absolute worst. I guess everyone wants their 15 minutes on stage. Girl Talk live is the most fun that anyone can have watching a guy play his album tracks verbatim on a laptop.
While it started off super high energy and fun, after a while I felt like I was getting beer spilled on me so that I could listen to "Night Ripper". I was disappointed when he threw in a random Toadies sample never to come back to it again. He should have gone back to it, and maybe thrown in a little Spacehog for good measure.

From there I disappeared into the dungeon that was Neumo's and this one experience kept me out of there for the rest of the weekend.

The crowd inside Neumos would have enraged the fire marshal to no end. The stairs leading from the floor to the upstairs was even jampacked with people. I found myself in the middle of, what appeared to be, the designated couples make-out section. You know how there is always that couple at a show? Well I was completely surrounded by them.

I had never heard the Dodos before seeing them live. My friends Brian and Lyndsey were both very excited for them, so I decided to check them out. They did not disappoint in the slightest! The crowd was super hot and just in love with this band. You could literally feel the floor shake with so many people stomping and dancing. Eventually I had had enough of the heat and being packed like a sardine and I felt like I was going to pass out at any moment, so I bailed on the last part of their set to seek cooler air and water.

I caught part of Les Savy Fav's ridiculously high energy rock spectacle from way in the back, sipping on water. I was so dehydrated at this point that I went to order food and my brain froze. I said, "I'm sorry, I forgot what I wanted. I'm just so," "Drunk?" Said the food vendor, "No, dehydrated! I haven't had any alcohol today." I'm not sure if he believed me, but it was absolutely true.

Local all ages favorite, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head were up next on the Vera Project stage. Volunteering at Vera I have heard lots of rave reviews about this band from the younger volunteers.

I was rather unimpressed. The band members were all so excited to be there, and the crowd for them was the largest that I saw on one of the smaller stages all weekend. This was a mostly under aged crowd and they were absolutely madly in love with this band! The music wasn't bad, but it didn't do anything for me. I have to say though, watching their crowd was one of the highlights of the entire block party.

I caught a song of indie rock flavor of the month Vampire Weekend before fellow KEXP volunteer Susan was kind enough to give me a ride home. It was fun, and I saw them earlier this year at Neumos and didn't feel like dealing with the main stage crowd to watch them on this night.

I returned home ears ringing, dehydrated, exhausted, and covered in beer that was not my own.

Sub Pop is no longer a teenager continues and Birdwatchers United (maybe) play a show

The band that I really wanted to see at Sub Pop was festival closer, Wolf Parade. I have a ticket in hand to see them at Neumo's for tonight, so that was what I kept telling myself over and over again as I analyzed the lineup for Sunday.

I made plans to meet up with a friend, Jimmer, to see an early show at the Comet. The band, Seattle locals, Birdwatchers United! first came into our lives when we saw them open up for Tilly & the Wall a week or so earlier. Birdwatchers were a lot of fun, a high energy feel good pop band, and Jimmer and I each attempted to pick up their CD at the merch table.

Well, Birdwatchers United! were so awesome that they unloaded their CDs before my friend and I made our way to the merch. I became their MySpace friend the next day, and I sent them a message asking if they would have more CDs for sale at the early show, 7pm, yesterday. They responded saying that they weren't planning on it, but they would bring one just for me! I was more than excited.

While I was at work yesterday I received a text from Brian saying that he had another ticket for Sunday's Sub Pop if I wanted to head out to Marymoor. I asked when the headliner went on last night, he responded by saying that, "Wolf Parade goes on at 8:20." I went back and forth on this decision for a while before I decided, Fuck it! I really want to be part of the Sub Pop 20 celebration. Sub Pop is the first independent record label that was part of my consciousness. I had to be there.

At this point I decided that I was going to go home and change after work, go to the Comet to see Birdwatchers United, and then drive out to see Wolf Parade end the festival.

When I got to the Comet, Jimmer had a table and I ordered a drink. The bartenders are very heavy handed, which is a definite plus. Suddenly it was 7:45 and no one was playing, and in fact the band wasn't even set up yet.

Jimmer had plans at 8 as well, so we went outside and introduced ourselves to Emily and (I think) Tim of the Birdwatchers. We received our CDs and discussed their wedding plans before I informed them that we had to go, but we will be sure to see them again!

I hope that they played last night, and I bet it was a super kickass show.

At that point I took off for Sub Pop with, faulty, directions from Brian. On the way there I broke Washington state law and contacted Brian while I was driving to verify part of said directions. He said, "Oh crap!" and thus I got off the highway to turn around.

When I got to the festival grounds the sign said, "No parking after 2pm" and there was a cop at the entrance, I drove past him and parked. He didn't even look at me. There was no parking attendant for me to pay $5 to park either. As I got out of the car I could hear the opening notes of At Mount Zoom opener "Soldier's Grin". I met Brian at the gate and he handed me a ticket(he had actually won tickets while I was trying to win them). The employees didn't scan my ticket or anything, they just waived me in.

I spun around to gage the crowd and I said to Brian, "There's nobody here!" He said that Sunday was less packed then Saturday and that about halfway through yesterday people started to head home. I actually contacted a friend to tell her that I was going there to see Wolf Parade, she had tickets for both days and she told me that she didn't go the second day. I responded saying that she still had a chance. I mean, it's fucking Wolf Parade!
The show was awesome. Wolf Parade played for almost a full 90 minutes. They mentioned before their encore that they were told to only play for 40 minutes and that they were already pushing it. Then they encored with, "I'll Believe In Anything" from Apologies to the Queen Mary.

At this point much of the crowd in front of us had cleared out and I ran forward about 20 feet jumping up and down when I realized what song it was.

"I'll Believe In Anything" is, hands down, my absolutely favorite Wolf Parade song.
The sun was starting to set, the moon was already visible, it was Sub Pop's 20th birthday and I got swept away in the live crowd as we screamed along in unison, "Nobody knows you, and nobody gives a damn!"

So maybe I didn't see the Vaselines, or even Green River, but I did make it out to Sub Pop's birthday party, and I got to see my major music crush of 2008. I'll update tomorrow with a write up of tonight's show, which I am equally excited for.


Here is a link to the Birdwatchers United! myspace page:
Birdwatchers United